


In Vino Veritas

by lovelornwolf



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Alive Vernon Boyd & Erica Reyes, Broken Bones, Hangover, Ice Cream, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Pining, Pack Bonding, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 16:31:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15247317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelornwolf/pseuds/lovelornwolf
Summary: Stiles knows something happened between Erica and Derek last night. He just doesn't know what.Featuring a rousing round of Truth or Dare, a tub of ice cream and a bottle of wolfsbane brandy.





	In Vino Veritas

When Erica finally turned twenty-one, the pack decided to celebrate. Lydia suggested heading to the Whittemore lake house for the weekend, and everyone agreed but Jackson, so it was decided. Derek brought a fancy bottle of wolfsbane brandy—"My mom used to like this," he said—and Stiles cooked up a potent aconite tincture, a single drop of which could transform a shot of whiskey into a drink strong enough to get a werewolf wasted.

So anyway, the party on Friday night was totally off the hook. None of the werewolves were used to getting drunk, and they all got hammered in the space of a couple hours. Derek especially seemed to be a lightweight. When Stiles finally went upstairs to bed, Derek and Erica were sitting side-by-side on the couch, heads together, passing the brandy back and forth and muttering.

Stiles didn't know what was said—or done—that night between the two of them, but the next morning, when Derek finally dragged himself out of the living room where he'd crashed, he looked horribly embarrassed and wouldn't meet Stiles's eyes. He didn't even say hello before he skedaddled.

Erica looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, however. She came into the kitchen while Stiles was eating cereal and plopped herself next to him at the breakfast bar.

“So what do you think about Derek?” she said.

Stiles's spoon stopped in midair. “Uh…what?”

“I just want to know what you think about him.” Her expression was extremely innocent, which was a giant warning sign, since Erica was _never_ innocent.

“He's gotten better,” Stiles said.

“And?”

“…and it's almost not weird when he hangs out with us now?”

Erica rolled her eyes. “Don't overdo the praise,” she said.

“Why do you want me to praise him? Is this a joke? Are you recording this?” He paused. "Wait, what day is it?”

“…April First,” Erica said.

“It’s October,” Stiles said. “Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that.”

Stiles decided to track Derek down and find out what the deal was, but he didn't seem to be anywhere. He walked through the forest for several minutes before giving up.

“You can't hide forever, Derek,” Stiles shouted, before heading back to the cabin.

At lunch, Derek showed up looking intensely nonchalant. He cracked jokes with Boyd and snarked at Jackson. He still wouldn't look Stiles in the face, though.

Stiles cornered him upstairs. “What is going on? Why are you trying so hard?”

Derek glared. “You make fun of me when I'm grumpy, and now you aren't happy that I'm trying. Make up your mind, Stiles.”

“Oh my god,” Stiles said. “Did you—you and Erica? Last night?”

“What? Nothing happened last night.”

Stiles didn't have to be a werewolf to know that Derek was lying.

“Derek won't tell me the truth,” Stiles said when he found Erica. “Which is nothing new, Derek holds onto secrets like they'll keep him from drowning. But he usually doesn't _lie_.”

“About what?”

“About last night.”

He watched her closely, but she just blinked those big, blue eyes at him.

“You'll have to be more specific,” she said. “Last night was kind of a haze.”

“Why will no one be straight with me today?”

Somehow this was the funniest thing Erica had ever heard. “‘Straight with me,’” she chortled, wiping her eyes. “Good one.”

Stiles just stared at her, nonplussed.

She rolled her eyes. “All right, Stilinski. Truth for truth. Don't you think Derek looks nice today?”

“No. He looks like he's still getting over a hangover. That's not a good look on anybody.” Although if anyone could pull it off, it would be Derek.

“I said truth for truth,” Erica said, and walked away.

Stiles brought all this up with Scott while they were gathering firewood.

Scott was not sympathetic. “If something happened between them, don't you think that's their business?”

“Sure, normally I would,” Stiles said. “But they're both being weird towards _me._ ”

Scott shrugged and hefted the axe. “I’d leave it alone if I were you.” Then his eyes widened. “You don't have a thing for Erica, do you?”

“No.”

“Then it's Derek,” Scott said.

“What? No!”

Scott cocked his head and looked skeptical.

Stiles made a choking sound. “All right. I may have a mild crush on Derek. A passing infatuation. A fleeting fancy.”

“You don't have mild crushes,” Scott said. “Remember Lydia?”

“A _mild_ crush,” Stiles repeated.

“If you say so,” Scott said. “I still say to leave it alone, but knowing you…”

Stiles resolved to take Scott's advice, until that night, when Erica announced that they were going to play Spin the Bottle. When everyone groaned, she said, “It’s either that or Seven Minutes in Heaven. Take your pick.”

“We are not playing either of those things.” Derek sounded final.

He and Erica stared at each other for several seconds, as if they were arguing telepathically.

At last Erica smiled. “Fine. Then we're playing Truth or Dare.”

Erica went first and called on Boyd, who chose truth. He admitted that he had never had sex with anyone other than Erica. Boyd called on Lydia, who chose dare. She ended up trying and failing to walk the entire length of the living room on her hands. Lydia called on Allison, Allison called on Scott, Scott called on Stiles, and Stiles called on Erica.

“Truth or Dare?” he asked.

“Truth,” she said, her eyes challenging him.

“What did you and Derek end up doing last night?”

Stiles did not miss the way Derek's eyes darted suddenly to Erica. Erica didn't seem to notice.

“We talked,” she said. “And drank.” She smiled. “My turn.” She turned to Derek.

He shook his head. “I’m not playing.”

Erica looked stubborn. “You can't pull out just because someone called on you. Truth or dare?”

Everyone joined in, calling Derek no fun.

Finally he rolled his eyes and said, “Truth.” But he looked very wary.

“Derek, are you romantically interested in anyone…who is in this room?”

Derek huffed. “Yes.”

Everyone hooted and hollered, but no one asked Derek to admit who he was interested in.

Derek called on Stiles. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Stiles said. “Wait. No. Dare. No—no, truth.”

Derek was looking at him impatiently. “Are you done?”

“Yes. Truth. Definitely.”

“Fine. Are _you_ romantically interested in anyone in this room?”

Stiles’s eyes darted immediately to Scott. If he lied, would Scott call him out on it? He couldn’t risk it. He looked back at Derek. “It depends on what ‘romantically interested’ means,” Stiles said finally.

Derek’s brows drew together. “Just answer the question.”

“…Yes? At least, mildly. Mildly interested. There’s definitely attraction, on my side at least, but probably romantic interest as well? I try not to think about it. No point in dwelling, right? I’ve had my fill of chasing unattainable perfection.” He smiled at Lydia, who did not smile back, just shook her head pityingly.

Derek looked confused, which was great! Hopefully he had no idea Stiles had been talking about him.

After that, the game devolved into a series of more and more ludicrous dares, culminating in Boyd daring Scott to jump his dirt bike over the Dumpster out back, which in turn culminated in Scott breaking his arm.

While Scott’s arm healed, everyone dug into a party-sized tub of ice cream Lydia had found in the freezer.

“You okay, Scotty?” Stiles asked in a low voice.

“Fine,” Scott said, he teeth gritted against the pain. “Or I will be in a minute.” He pulled Stiles closer. “About earlier—you’ve got it bad, haven’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Stiles said airily, and went to get more ice cream.

Erica grabbed him before he could escape to a corner. “I’ve got your number, Stilinski,” she said. “Your attempt to muddy the waters notwithstanding.”

“Erica,” Derek said. “Leave him alone.”

“Fine,” Erica said. “But this isn’t over.”

“Just drop it, Erica,” Derek said. He looked tired. “He isn’t interested, and that’s that.”

“Wait, Erica,” Stiles said. “Are you _hitting on me?_ ”

Erica rolled her eyes. “No, Stiles. Not _everyone_ is interested in you.”

“No one is interested in me,” Stiles said. “It’s the tragedy of my life.”

“Just because you got shut down by Lydia—over and over again, for years—doesn’t mean no one has ever been interested in you, or will ever be interested in you again.” She patted him on the shoulder. “You just need to take your head out of your ass and _pay attention_.” She walked away, leaving Stiles standing next to Derek, who was suddenly very interested in his ice cream.

What even was going on.

After ice cream, the booze came out again, and people started disappearing in pairs up to their bedrooms. Stiles felt sad and alone.

Erica appeared next to Stiles, holding the half-empty bottle of brandy. “Your mission is to make sure Derek has a good time,” she said, pressing the bottle into his hand. “I’m counting on you.”

Stiles took a steadying swig of liquor and went to find their Alpha.

Derek seemed a little freaked out when Stiles walked up, brandishing the brandy.

“I’m sorry I was on your case today,” Stiles said. “Truce?” He sat down next to Derek on the couch and handed him the bottle.

Derek took a long swallow. “Truce,” he said. He still was having trouble meeting Stiles’s eyes.

They passed the bottle back and forth a couple times. Finally Stiles screwed up his courage.

“Do you just not like me?” Stiles said. “Is that it? I mean, you won’t even _look_ at me.”

Derek was definitely looking at him now, his eyes wide.

“Sorry,” Stiles said. “That’s probably breaking the terms of the truce.”

“There were terms?” Derek said, sounding amused. He passed the bottle back to Stiles.

“I shouldn’t push you,” Stiles said. “This is me leaving you alone.” He took another swig. He was definitely feeling it now—a buzz from the brandy, and a slight lift from the wolfsbane.

“And yet here you are,” Derek said.

“I mean leaving your emotions alone. They’re your business, not mine.”

“I appreciate it,” Derek said.

A few more minutes passed in silence, the subtle slosh of the brandy the only sound.

“So,” Derek said. “You and Scott?”

“Me and Scott what?”

“When I asked if you were romantically interested in anyone…”

“Oh. _Oh._ No! No, Scott and I are just friends. Best buds. Not interested in each other like that at all.”

“Then…you’re still into Lydia?”

“I mean. I’ll always think she’s awesome. But no, that ship has sailed, thank god.”

Derek was just looking at him.

“Dude,” Stiles said. “We aren’t playing Truth or Dare anymore, you can’t make me tell you all my secrets. Plus we have a truce! Which should obviously go both ways. So.”

“Maybe I don’t want a truce with you,” Derek said.

“Yeah? What acts of war are you planning on committing?”

“Suicide mission,” Derek said. And he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Stiles’s.

Derek’s mouth tasted like brandy and wolfsbane. Stiles’s hands had come up reflexively and he was now clutching the nape of Derek’s neck. Derek was still holding the bottle of brandy in his left hand, but his right hand had cupped Stiles’s cheek.

They broke apart finally. Derek’s pupils were blown wide, and his lips were moist and red.

“Kissing is _awesome_ ,” Stiles said. “We should do that some more.”

“So you _are_ into me?” Derek said. “Erica said—but I didn’t believe her.”

“Yeah, I kind of have an embarrassing crush on you.”

Derek smiled. “Likewise.” He brushed his thumb over Stiles’s lips. “I believe you said something about more kissing?”

An hour or so later, they were lying together on the couch. Derek was running his fingers through Stiles’s hair, and and Stiles was just lying there, enjoying it.

“You’re smiling,” Derek said. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing. Just happy. You?”

“Trying to decide what our first date will be,” Derek said. He paused. “If you want to go on a date with me, I mean.”

“Of course I want to date you, you big lunk. What are the options?”

“I was thinking something simple, like a movie.”

“I’m warning you now, I won’t be able to keep my hands off you.”

“Back row makeout session?” Derek asked.

“You’re on.”

The next morning, Erica took one look at the two of them and smiled deviously. But all she said was, “You’re welcome.”


End file.
